The hiatus has been lifted! While the baking has continued, the blogging has been lacking but I'll make it up to you with a few posts of "Here's what you missed."
What better way to start than with the Blackhawks?!
As the Hawks enter the Stanley Cup Finals yet again, I took advantage and created a cupcake to support my team.
I've made these cupcakes before, but the decoration is really what's key here. I'm bringing back the red velvet cupcake with KitKat frosting, which is always a hit. But this time I jazzed them up with the help of Party City.
That's right, I found Stanley Cup confetti for decoration! The baby Stanley Cups fit perfectly with the red flag toothpicks I found. Write your favorite team's name and boom. Welcome to the Stanley Cup(cake) Finals.
Last year, I was quite the Scrooge, which is so unlike me. I didn't watch many Christmas movies, didn't listen to Christmas music and was just not feeling it. I even had a binge baking night to get it into my system. I was convinced it was because I was out of the retail world. I had started a new job and I getting Christmas music shoved down my throat for an entire month. Turns out it was a mix of that and well, let's just say a lot of stress at the new, now former job.
Anyway, I tried to get a head start on things this past Sunday with something super simple that's not really baking and well, they aren't square but who cares! I haven't made chocolate covered pretzels since I was a kid and forgot how super easy it is and remembered that almond bark works the best. I was taught to melt the white and dark together and it works out perfectly.
I also decided to actually bake and they say imitation is the best form of flattery. In that case, Macy's should be flattered. I went to the Walnut Room with the boyfriend and fam and had what seemed like the outside of a large Oreo cookie dunked in white chocolate. Well, I had to try it. I panicked once I started because I didn't have eggs and well, wasn't in the mood for a drive. I found some "substitutes" as in oil, water and baking powder but that didn't really do anything. The cookies flat out sunk in the middle but I had already committed so I had to finish the job. Surprisingly, they are quite tasty.
They're not the prettiest things on earth but I somehow managed to get the perfect crunch of the outside of an Oreo and just melted some more white almond bark and crushed up some candy canes and I got pretty darn close. Definitely worth another shot but next time I'll actually use an egg to save some trouble. I have a lot of other ideas on my list as well including eggnog cookies. Happy Baking!
So long story short, a friend of mine's daughter was pretty sick for awhile and I wanted to make her something for when she felt better. I've kinda go a knack for this baking thing so I asked what her favorite candy or flavor was and if she was a cupcake or a cookie gal. After given dark chocolate and cookies as clues, I whipped up a quick and easy but delicious treat.
I didn't want to bake a chocolate chunk cookie. While delicious, they can be boring and predictable especially since I've kind of created a reputation for myself. And, I found out anyway that she ended up making chocolate chip cookies herself the day before. So I went with one of my favorites, oatmeal. I must admit, I'm not a fan of dark chocolate. Gasp! I know I know. It is a preferred taste but the oatmeal muffled it a little to where I actually enjoyed it.
The whole process was really simple. I got a giant bar of dark chocolate and put it into the Ninja, just long enough to chop it up but not too much. I wanted chunks, not fine shreds.
I learned pretty quick that dark chocolate melts really fast while you're dealing with it so you don't want to keep it in the chopper too long anyway. Mixing it into the batter may have been an issue too so I just crumbled the chunks of chocolate on top of each cookie before putting them in the oven.
I was kind of worried about that decision at first because it looked like a pool of chocolate on top but it worked out nicely and turned out pretty tasty. So don't be afraid of dark chocolate if you're not a fan, there are ways to make it work. Plus, it's supposed to be good for you!
Now I'm no relationship expert but I have learned that the way to a man's heart is through his stomach. Seriously, try it some time. I also mentioned before that my boyfriend has been asking for normal brownies. He pretty much gets everything I bake and I do a lot of baking for him so I complied because I do tend to go a little crazy sometimes. But I couldn't help but get a little gutsy with another batch.
Can't really go wrong with a chocolate chunk brownie, which is what he constantly tells me. And he's' right and they turned out great as usual. I had some extra supplies though and a little something else I wanted to add. Can you tell what it is?
You know it's already a good day when I get to use the Ninja. Despite it sounding like I'm grinding up silverware it was great for chopping up some Reese's Pieces. I didn't want them to be too fine and just add them to the batter so I sprinkled the partially chopped chunks on top.
They turned out fabulous too. Peanut butter and chocolate just work. Super simple too and it'll work with any candy you'd like really. I thought about M&M's but it would be a little too much chocolate for me. (Gasp!) I know I know.
So I always have new ideas and love experimenting with ingredients. Sometimes its' amazing (see these cupcakes and these cookies) and sometimes I screw up. Bad. (See my giant mousse disaster). This is another one of those not-so-smart instances. I thought it'd be a good idea but maybe my execution was off.
Peanut butter and jelly brownies. Sounds like it would just work. Chocolate, peanut butter and my favorite, grape jelly. I figure I'd give it a shot, can't be too bad right? Well, there's something to be said about jelly.
Looks are deceiving. I thought I was genius and so excited to try these. But the jelly. When jelly gets hot it's gooey and would be pretty good in the center of peanut butter and chocolate. Well, once the brownies are cool enough to be removed, it kind of turns into a rock.
You could break teeth with these things after a day. I was extremely disappointed and am currently trying to figure out ways to fix it because I still like the idea. Moral of the story: Jelly is not so good after it's been heated and cooled. Unless you need to get rid of some teeth.
I'm still going to shoot for brownies. My boyfriend constantly tells me to just make "normal brownies." I can't help it. I have to add something extra. After all, we've learned that even with cookies, I need a little something extra.
He'll get normal brownies but I'm also going to experiment with Reese's Pieces again. To Be Continued…
I was asked a very big favor a month ago and was very excited. I was asked to make cupcakes for a five-year-old's birthday and not just any kind of cupcakes (why be boring?), super hero cupcakes.
I found out he likes chocolate so I obviously had to make a chocolate cake but I didn't stop there. I added cream cheese and Nutella in the center. It definitely broke up the chocolate without losing too much of the chocolate flavor. Different textures usually help.
My original intention was to put a hot chocolate mousse in the middle, but that didn't go so well.
Now onto the decorating. I made a normal buttercream frosting and divvied it up to make different colors per super hero. Spiderman obviously got red, Superman was red, blue and yellow (I bought the appropriate cupcake paper too) and Batman was blue. I found some toothpicks with the characters and decided to add M&M's on top, for another different texture.
Needless it say it was a success and I'm really excited for more themed cupcakes. Shoot me an email if you're looking for something sweet for your next event! In the meantime, I can't wait for October...
I've made a lot of mistakes on this baking adventure but not so much where I sacrificed 50 cupcakes...
I was so excited to make chocolate cupcakes with chocolate chip mousse filling for a birthday party and thought I had it in the bag. I had my heavy cream, some powdered sugar and I used mostly hot chocolate packets to sweeten and give it a hint of milk chocolate flavor. Who doesn't love hot chocolate?
It came out beautiful. I had a huge geek moment. After all, not many people get excited over the fluffiness of homemade mousse. I was proud!
The picture doesn't really do it justice, but you get the point.
I couldn't just leave it at that. Nope, I had to be gutsy which in turn became my downfall. I chopped up milk chocolate and white chocolate chips that I wanted to add to it. Well, they're kind of heavy and I got a little overboard and while it still tasted delicious, it flattened the mousse. And my spirit.
It became a soupy mess and I was more upset than I should of been but hey, now I know. Ease up on the chips and fold them in instead of tossing them into the mixer.
I tried baking them in the center anyway and it was a complete disaster and I had to start all over. I couldn't bare to serve them like that.
So now we know and I thought I'd spread the word on how NOT to go about experimenting with mousse and you're welcome. :) Although I still highly recommend using hot chocolate packets.
I think that Kik-Kats are kind of underrated. They're not usually the first thing people think of when you say candy bar but I realized it's the perfect mix of chocolate and crunch and good consistency for a frosting. I've also had requests for red velvet cake and instead of the normal cheesecake frosting I mixed it up with some crumbled kit-kats. Simple, but delicious.
I've done red velvet before - for Valentine's Day, how cliche! - and I wanted to mix it up. I did before by adding chopped up white chocolate and chocolate chips to the frosting and white chocolate chips in the batter but anyone can make a red velvet cupcake with cream cheese frosting. My creativity escaped and I've been thinking about what I can make with Kit-Kats and this was perfect. I LOOOVVEE Red Velvet and balancing it out with a buttery frosting with the milk chocolate from the Kit-Kats balanced it out pretty well.
I've got quite the knack for turning candy into cupcakes. Any more ideas??
Here's a take on a couple of the best candies around; peanut butter cups and Reese's Pieces. I've always made chocolate chip cookies with Reese cups in the middle but now I've turned it into a cupcake. And I couldn't just put any old frosting on top, had to add some crunch and compliment it with it's hard shelled crunchy counterpart.
I put them in a ziplock and crumpled them up a bit, not too much so they'd still be crunchy and added them to my normal butter, powdered sugar and vanilla frosting and it's pretty epic. But before all of that, we can't forget about the hidden treasure that is the peanut butter cup in the center of the cupcake.
Too much? No such thing. Right out of the oven they were good and still gooey but even better after a night in the refrigerator. I've always put chocolate in the refrigerator - taking after my father who does the same - and the fridge helps hold everything together.
And there you have it, death by peanut butter. The Reese's Pieces on top balance out the rich chocolate in the center while still keeping it in the same candy family and it's perfect for a late night sweet tooth.
Hallmark Holidays are good excuses to bake and Valentine's Day is no exception when it comes to themed sweets. I admit, I fall victim to the cliches but what can I say, they're tasty.
First what every cupcake tends to be in the month of February: Red Velvet.
I added chocolate chips to the batter for a surprise but the frosting is what I'm most proud of... I took the leftover red chocolate chips and chopped them up with some white chocolate chips to mix into the frosting.
And it's pretty epic... The white chocolate balances out the dark and the dark chocolate balances out the sweetness of the cream cheese in the frosting. And that combo balances out the richness of the cake.
I'm not finished yet! I'm on a constant quest to jazz up sugar cookies and the Valentine's theme was easy to go with. Found some red food coloring, made some white icing with heart sprinkles and voila!
Whether you're a fan of Valentine's Day or not, it's always a good excuse for a cookie or a cupcake ;). I should also apologize to my neighbors if I freaked them out by leaving cupcakes and cookies outside their doors.. I had too many!
So I mayyyy have gone a little overboard last week with the baking; whipping out cupcakes, muffins, cookies and brownies but it was well worth it. I already shared the cupcakes and muffins, now let's get to the other goods.
I felt like I needed to add a little chocolate into the mix, and I'm not a fan of just plain chocolate so I had to mix it up.
I usually have butterscotch chips on hand and thought they'd be the perfect sweet touch to add to the rich chocolate and peanut butter chips in these brownies. They flew pretty quick at my boyfriend's apartment so it had to be a good combo.
This usually doesn't end well but I got into some late night baking Sunday. AKA I couldn't sleep and made a ton of cookies. Way too much... But they're cute AND delicious!
I took a sugar cookie and jazzed them up for Valentine's Day. And as my boyfriend told me, sugar cookies are underrated. I agree in that people look at a sugar cookie's bland complexion and think twice before indulging, so you gotta make them look good.
The good thing about Valentine's Day is there's always a ton of candy on sale and when I think of candy I think of what I can bake it with. I found heart-shaped chocolates that have a different filling in each one and baked them into the cookies. Anywhere from just fudge, peanut butter, caramel, crisps and even cookies and cream were in the candies and of course the heart shape made them festive and season-appropriate.
I also managed to find the right baking time so they weren't hard as a rock, it's actually pretty easy to burn a sugar cookie and making any cookie in this brownie pan can go horribly wrong and threaten to break teeth if you don't know how to bake them. Ten to twelve minutes usually does the trick, they may seem undercooked and too soft at first but when you give them time to cool they're the perfect consistency.
Before that I made the same exact ones with peanut butter. Just like too much chocolate, I'm not a fan of too much or just straight up peanut butter so the candies helped that balance out as well.
The topper to this Hallmark Holiday mood I've been in is now this classic has been stuck in my head and probably will be until the end of February. Thanks Huey!
And now I want to watch Back To The Future. Think I can make Delorean cupcakes?
I have more baked goods than I know what to do with... And my apartment feels like the surface of the sun with the oven on for hours.
One of my favorite things my mom would bake when I was a kid was oatmeal scotchies. Whenever she cooked, whenever she baked, I thought it was her secret recipe and was always afraid to try it myself. After all, no one can make anything like mom can.
Soooo I decided to spin it. I had to make the originals but sticking with my square theme, I made them into bars. I realized they take a lot longer to bake when they're in a brownie pan but it is so worth it. And it doesn't feel like you're eating two or three with one bar :).
Another twist- Oatmeal toffee. Replace the butterscotch chip with heath bar toffee bits and it's a whole new ballgame. Again extra baking time with a brownie pan but patience is a virtue and it's totally worth the wait.
Another twist on an old favorite - the rice krispie treat. Really simple, not really baking but it's square! And not your average rice krispie treat. How about chocolate with white chocolate chips?
Yeeeessss ma'am.
Pairings - Today's baking partner is the usual Moscato which would actually go very well with the butterscotch. Even a bit with the rice krispie treats. While Moscato is sweet and crisp and may not sound too good with chocolate, the lightness of the white chocolate balances out the cocoa and makes a great pair.
Moscato not your thing? You can go with a Pinot Noir or a mild Merlot. Still, this is probably why I like it so much, a good moscato holds up well with milk chocolate.
